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DCAM letter to Selectmen

Letter to Medfield Selectmen from DCAM Commissioner Carole Cornelison, received Sept. 5, 2012.

Editor's Note: The following appeared in Selectman Osler "Pete" Peterson's blog, Medfield02052, on Sept. 5. ================= August 31, 2012 Ann B. Thompson, Chair, Medfield Board of Selectmen Mark L. Fisher, Member, Medfield Board of Selectmen Osler L. Peterson, Member Medfield Board of Selectmen Medfield Town House 459 Main Street Medfield, MA 02052 Dear Chair Thompson, Selectmen Fisher and Peterson, I do apologize for the delay in responding to you; however please know that I was delighted to learn from your letter that you have appointed a Committee of local residents to formally join us in our collaborative process of taking a fresh look at the former Medfield State Hospital property. Reuse land planning is a creative dynamic process…

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Senator Timilty, State Reps Support Medfield's Efforts for State Hospital Cleanup

State Senator James Timilty and State Representatives Denise Garlick and Dan Winslow, each representing Medfield, supported the town's efforts in seeking a permanent cleanup solution of the state hospital site by sending DCAM a letter requesting the agenc

The Town of Medfield received support from its state legislatures regarding its stance on the Division of Capital Asset Management’s (DCAM) remediation proposal regarding the in-river and riverbank contamination found at the site of the former Medfield State Hospital. State Senator James E. Timilty and State Representatives Daniel B. Winslow and Denise C. Garlick, each representing Medfield as part of Norfolk County, wrote a joint letter to DCAM’s Commissioner Carole Cornelison on Sept. 28, requesting the state agency withdraw its permit application with the Army Corps of Engineers for the proposed remediation work at the state hospital site. The legislatures asked DCAM to consider “all permanent alternatives,” according to the letter sent…

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Medfield State Hospital: DCAM to Convene Working Group with Town

Medfield Selectmen chair Osler Peterson said in his blog, Medfield 02052, that DCAM will convene a working group to facilitate better discussion of environmental issues at the Medfield State Hospital site.

Division of Capital Assessment Management (DCAM) Commissioner Carole Cornelison has yet again been good to her word to work collaboratively with the Town of Medfield on the clean up of the Medfield State Hospital site.  At my suggestion, borrowing Billl Massaro’s idea, Cornelison agreed to convene a working group to discuss the environmental issues, where the current PIP and other processes are too overly formalistic to get to fast answers and to allow input by the town and its residents.  Medfield will be represented on the working group by John Thompson, chair of the State Hospital Environmental Review Committee (SHERC) and the two town administrators, Michael Sullivan and Kristine Trierweiler. The first meeting should take place this …

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Timeline of the Medfield State Hospital Project

Here is a chronological look at the Medfield State Hospital site over the past nine years.

The Medfield State Hospital closed its doors in April, 2003, after the Department of Mental Health decided the facility was no longer needed due to "years of declining patient numbers," according to the Town of Medfield's website.  The town's website says the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) took over management of the 167-acre site from the Department of Mental Health in 2003 and is currently trying to sell the property as "no state agency has an interest or budget in the site for their particular operations."  In June, new DCAM Commissioner Carole Cornelison met with the Medfield Board of Selectmen to discuss the status of the former State Hospital site and get the town "thinking of possible reuses" for the site …

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Peterson: Thoughts on Monday's Meeting with State About Medfield State Hospital

Medfield Board of Selectmen chair Osler Peterson, Town Administrator Michael Sullivan and Assistant Town Administrator Kristine Trierweiler met with state and DCAM officials Monday, July 11 to discuss the Medfield State Hospital property. Peterson shared

The representatives from the Massachusetts Administration and Finance and Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) had no particular stated use or uses in mind for the Medfield State Hospital site when they met with Town of Medfield representatives and suggested we all, together, take a fresh look at alternatives. The only use specifically mentioned by them was a college and that one only because Secretary of Administration and Finance, Jay Gonzalez, seemed to suddenly recall having spoken to the Oleana person but had no real information about him and/or his concept.  Gonzalez asked if we had spoken with him too and I shared my limited one contact and my thoughts that his concept seemed to me to be pie in the sky due to the small sizes …

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Medfield State Hospital Site: A 'Wonderful Dilemma' for the Town

Medfield Selectmen chair Osler Peterson evaluates several options for potential uses of the Medfield State Hospital site and asks residents to join the discussion to help the town decide what would be the best use of the site.

The state, by way of the new DCAM Commissioner, Carole Cornelison, is telling Medfield the door is "wide open" to potential uses of the former Medfield State Hospital site. As the residents now rethink the housing that had already been worked out and consider potential other uses, I think that as we, as a town, now decide what would be the best use of the site in the town's eyes, we need to evaluate the options in terms of how the major variables will effect the town. The first, and most important variable the residents need to consider is the cost to the town to provide municipal services to what gets developed at the site. Under that municipal services rubric, housing would probably be the most expensive of any possible uses I can …

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Colleen M. Sullivan

11:24 am on Saturday, July 9, 2011

I would love to see that area restored and used for either a college campus or some sort of golf/recreation area....The history of those buildings is unique and they should not be bulldozed to be replaced with housing!   more ›

'Encouraging' Discussion Between Medfield Selectmen, DCAM Commissioner on State Hospital

DCAM Commissioner Carole Cornelison visited Tuesday's Medfield Board of Selectmen meeting to discuss the current situation of the former Medfield State Hospital site and plans for reuse.

Nearly 20 Medfield residents attended Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting to hear recently appointed DCAM Commissioner Carole Cornelison speak about the Medfield State Hospital site and many left encouraged by what she had to say. “I think we’re fascinated to hear DCAM has an open mind because it has been so long that it probably makes sense to revisit the whole [reuse plan of the state hospital property],” said Board of Selectmen Chair Osler “Pete” Peterson. Cornelison assured town officials and residents that DCAM will work “collaboratively” with the town to reach the common goal: finding the best development option for reuse of the state hospital site. “We have to work with the town,” Cornelison said. “My goal is to see what’s mutually…

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Jeremie Smith

2:15 pm on Thursday, June 9, 2011

Thanks for the update Pete and for pointing out that it was "mitigation" and not "litigation." I'm very interested to see/hear how the meeting goes and see the breakdown in cost between clean up and planning.   more ›